Lovely stories on how it gets better please

[Throughgrittedteeth]

DS is a flipping nightmare at night, he reached the 4mo sleep regression and has never really recovered - now 9mo - he's still waking up to 6 times a night sometimes. We have honestly tried everything, even controlled crying, which worked for a little while but then he started teething and now that won't work because he is crawling/rolling/standing in his cot. I know babies are suppose to wake in the night and he is definitely hungry when he wakes around 1am but the rest of the time its just for comfort.
We need to hear that it gets better and that he could learn all by himself to go to the fuck to sleep. So please tell me stories that have resulted in happy endings :)

I am a success story! I was a horrid baby, but I am now 30+, I LOVE sleep, I self-settle EVERY night in about 5 seconds, I sleep through EVERY night (if allowed), and if I wake up early I don't wake anyone but go quietly to the kitchen and make coffee.

More on topic, though: My DS is now 15 months. He was an absolute cot godzilla from about 8 to 12 months. Needing to be rocked for ages (I've got visible biceps to show for it!) to sleep, waking up every 1.5-2 hours for boob, etc. I think he was just constantly teething, he's got almost a full set now. He started getting better at around 13 months, waking up "only" three times a night, then at about 14 months it went down to 2 times and often even just once. As a trade-off he started waking up at 6:30 as opposed to 7:30 for the day though (you can't win). He recently had a cold so it all went to pot, but there are small signs of recovery. So it's all a bit up and down, but there is improvement. I am sure there are more difficult times ahead, but that's just how it is. Grrr.

Did you know there is a book called Go The Fuck To Sleep. The audio book is read by Samuel L Jackson. It's very funny. DH bought it for me to have on my iPod to listen to during the night when DD2 (11mo) wakes up 800 times!

Sorry, back to the subject at hand ...
DS was a crappy sleeper at that age. Now aged nearly 5 he goes to sleep as soon as the light goes out (8pm ish) and wakes up at about 6:30am.

DD1 was a crappy sleeper also. I remember hours sitting with her holding her hand while she fell asleep and all hell would break loose if I dropped her hand too early. Now aged 3 she is a night owl so goes to sleep at about 8:30pm (on her own also) and has to be woken up at 7am. She also still has a nap most days for 30-60 mins.

DD2 is 11mo and a seriously dreadful sleeper. I've posted about her here and don't want to dredge it all up. My head says that she'll eventually sleep well but my body just needs sleep NOW!

Come and join us on the High Need Baby support thread III in sleep. Lots of suggestions. And failing that, cake.

It got better for me at 11 months (nearly one) with my son as I stopped breastfeeding and that really helped with sleep.....

But he already knew how to self settle which meant that he didn't expect help for falling asleep or falling back asleep.

I too am at the 9 month tired stage..... Wking for b feeds etc and I can't face the crying for settling so am feeding to sleep or rocking.

I think it will be worth going through the teaching the settling thing when the time feels right. But with my son I had to re-do it after each illness and that is painful. So I am not in a hurry as I know the teething and illness will cause problems.

Anyway. I'm with you! It's tough. But my son was pretty difficult at night til he suddenly slept through. And just before he started sleeping though he was waking hourly. Literally.

A few steps in the right direction do help though.

PatronSaintofDucks,that really made me laugh!

It does get better. There were times when i never believed it would happen (and that the light at the end of the tunnel was actually a train hurtling towards me!) but it did.

My DS finally slept through the night just after he started walking so maybe he was just more tired. I was completely exhaused at that point - once i'd nearly fallen asleep on the motorway and on another occasion i burst into tears on my MIL's doorstep simply because she asked me how i was!

We co-slept initially as it was the only way he would sleep. Then when he was in his own room, it would take hours of rocking to get him off following by him waking shortly after i put him in his cot. I realised that he was able to sleep longer on his front so we did that but there was never more than 2-3 hours in a row.

I just couldn't bring myself to do controlled crying and he had such a small appetitie that i just don't think he could take enough milk (& then food) to get him through the night. And when the advice was to give him water when he woke in the night because he was waking out of habit, he would down the whole bottle.

So he slept through from 14 months and although he's never needed as much sleep as DD, we've made it to 7½ years old (without telling him to go the fuck to sleep). I hear him in the mornings, going to the bathroom and pottering about in his bedroom but he knows not to come into our bedroom before 7am.

Hang in there, it's not long now

Oh yes walking was part of it too...

Thank you for your replies, I'm sorry I'm only just replying. I sent my post earlier then our internet promptly stopped working! Its up and running not button I will join you over there shortly, I think I won't feel so alone if I know there are others going through it! Camdancer I know its SO funny! Me and DP like to say bits of it to each other when we're getting up in the night. It keeps us sane and reminds us that just because we're awake it's not the end of the world!

I am late too but it does get better. After 18 mos!! Of not sleeping through from month 19 to present, almost 3, DD goes 7:30pm to 7:30am without a peep. It's bliss. Touch wood. What we did was turn off the monitor, ditched the sleep sack and stopped rushing in at first sound. Oh and got a white noise machine for her room. I think the sleep sack was the culprit though. When check on her now or when she sleeps with us on holiday, I've noticed she flips a lot. I think it was bothering her. Oh and around that time I became a nap fanatic and made sure she napped everyday at the same time, with the same routine as at bed time. Prior to that, I wS working but got made redundant so she was at home with me and I think the consistent day naps helped her settle better at night.

I feel for you though. It was hell those eighteen months, and DH and I had some serious serious rows during that time and I was almost catatonic most the time from lack of sleep. Hang in there...

My DD is 17mo and hasn't slept through once

I really hope she sleeps through soon

My 14 month old has been awake, in his cot next to our bed since 1oclock, i finally gave in at 4 and bought him downstairs. He has fallen asleep in his high chair.